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I would bet that many of you, myself included, like to believe that you are good, moral people in our hearts. The kind of person who would stand up against wrong in any form; would catch a bullet for a stranger if in that particular circumstance; would fess up for a catastrophe no matter how humiliating. Yes, well, today I found myself in a situation and I reacted well below my own expectations. And I am ashamed. My perpetually pregnant cat, Pagoda, came in through the window with a lively, wriggly lizard and was playing with it. Me (no longer a tom boy since the onset of puberty) was completely grossed out and squeamish so asked a neighbor girl playing on the front porch to assist (clue number one that I am not as noble as I’d like to think). And here’s the whopper: not only did she come in to get that sucker, she came in and proceeded to beat the shit out of it with her legless, armless doll. That’s right, a skinny young girl beating a lizard on my dining room floor with a Sally Talks A Lot who’s seen better days. And what did I do during all this? Stood on a chair and looked away. Alas. There it is, I am a despicable human being. Not only an “animal lover” but stood by and did nothing as a lizard (a namesake!) was bludgeoned to death with a child’s toy–by a child. This is going to do wonders for my karma.

In another somewhat related note: Perpetually Pregnant Pagoda has become a serial killer and I condone the behavior by cleaning up after her. Most kills (small mice) are food and I think that’s awesome and nutritious for her, but lately she will bring in a dead rat (and I mean huge stinking rats), decapitate them, disembowel them, and leave the whole mess for me to find in always the secret and surprising location (i.e. bookshelves, under dining room table, etc). It’s become a rather disturbing pattern, and I have been contemplating turning her in (for her own good of course). Gosh I hope she doesn’t read this…

A bit o’ good news! We got the deed for the adjacent parcel of land (finally!) and it’s off to get the plans and budget to post my PCPP and start begging for money. I’m going to get the price down as low and reasonable as possible, but it’s going to be quite the challenge coming up with the money. I’m anticipating (and hopefully overestimating) around 20,000 USD for the two buildings. Can we build an orphanage in less than a year? I say we can! Stay attentive for new information.

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And finally I leave you with some pictures of a funerailles party in Dschang. This was a funeral held on November 20th for a man who died in 1988. Yes, you read correctly. Always a good party! Cheers.

The small minority of people who are able to stay in relationships for years on end are the ones who realize—or most likely just understand on an intuitive level—that they are shacked up with a fallible human. They are going to have many things about them that are unpleasant.

As I sat and contemplated all of this and the loss of my own father to a tragic suicide when I was only eight years old, I began to comprehend that I was (and still am) guilty of making unfavorable choices, especially